The William F. Cody Archive: Documenting the life and times of Buffalo Bill

PREPARING TO CLOSE.

Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show Giving Its Farewell Performances.

It is not every day that amusement-goers have opportunity to see an entertainment wherein there are no actors, no costumes, no scenic properties, and no artificial effects, yet, in the absence of all these, an entertainment so fascinating in character as to draw a person to see it time and again with renewed interest. Such, for instance, is the Wild West. Cody and Salsbury have presented throughout the season an entertainment unique and original, educative and instructive, and it has been seen and commended by more than a million of New-York and Brooklyn residents. The season is almost over; only a few weeks at the most remain of the season at Ambrose Park, in South Brooklyn, and then the gates will close. Whether the same Wild West will ever again be offered to metropolitans is a question, therefore the opportunity which is still open ought not to be missed.

Cowboys, selected for their personal skill as riders and cattlemen; soldiers, who were selected with great care from the reserves of Germany, France, England, and Russia; United States cavalrymen from the famous "Fighting Seventh" and from the crack troops of that regiment; Mexicans, selected for their individual skill as lassoers and riders; Indians, chosen for their respective achievements, prowess, and history—all these combine to form a series of natural pictures of life in the far West and of army life in this and other nations that cannot possibly be improved upon and that is realistic and genuine in every detail. No one could see the Cossacks ride and regard them other than what they are represented to be. If any one who has been on a cattle range in the West sees one or more of Buffalo Bill's cowboys he will readily testify that they are genuine "knights of the plains."

The soldiers have their furloughs from their respective commands with them, and any one who sees them ride and witnesses the military musical drill will know that every one of them is a soldier of more than one term of experience. Therefore, when a company of strange people—that is, strangers to the eyes of New-Yorkers—is brought together in an entertainment as carefully compiled as is the Wild West and as elaborately presented, no one should be so short-sighted as to miss seeing it. The World's Fair closed and thousands had not taken advantage of the opportunity offered to visit it.

The Wild West is an entertainment instructive and educational in its tenets, and one which, if passed, will cause more regret to the citizen than to the management. Performances are given every afternoon at 3 o'clock and every evening at 8:15 o'clock, rain or shine. The park is easy of access by ferry from the Battery or by trolley cars from all parts of Brooklyn.